In Germany, Restrictive Store Hours Give E-Commerce a Big Push

By

Sarah Sloat

Sep 23, 2014 10:32 pm ET

Online shopping is flourishing everywhere, but Germans have a particular motivation for Internet buying: store hours.

Across Germany, stores are closed on Sundays and holidays. In cities, they close around 8 p.m. most evenings, while in smaller towns shop clerks are home in time for dinner, and soon after noon on Saturdays.

For those who work late into the evening or don’t make it to the supermarket Saturday, the best option for picking up a loaf of bread is stopping by a gas station, or heading to a large train station, where stores may remain open in off-hours.